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[Shadow91]

Congrats!! Im happy for you mate.

[InFullStryde]

Congrats!! Im happy for you mate.

Thank you, mate!  I still have a ways to go in recovery, but it does make me feel good to know that my legs have enough strength at this point to carry me a mile.

[amandasolomon]

Hello!
My name is Amanda and I am Dr. Mahboubian's marketing coordinator. We wanted to say thank you so much to you for sharing your diary and your positive experience with everyone. You are really making a difference in people's lives by sharing your journey and we appreciate you so much! Thank you again and we are so glad you are happy with the results!

[InFullStryde]

(Sunday) Day 128 Post Op - Day 36 Consolidation/Recovery Phase - DISTRACTION COMPLETED....[7.5 cm Achieved / 3 inches Taller!]

Good day LL'ers,

I just wanted to check in with you regarding my status. All in all things are improving daily. As mentioned before I am walking 100% of the time unassisted and now just working hard on my gait, my strength and my overall flexibility/loosening of the legs.   I feel and see positive improvement over the past several days.  Let me try to explain the tightness that I have which gets in the way...

Here is a picture below of the quadriceps muscles under consideration:



As you lengthen the bone you also lengthen all the muscles on the femur so this is why intense committed physical therapy is so important throughout this process.   For myself personally the tight areas are:

1) Rector Femoris
2) Vastus Lateralis
3) Vasus Medialis
4) Psoas and Iliacus

One very important note is that the Rector Femoris and Psoas both attach themselves from the femur area onto the pelvis; so when these muscles get too tight it pulls the pelvis downward and creates anterior pelvic tilt.  Some people believe that (APT) is an IT Band thing...Well it certainly can be; but the more common cause for Duck Ass in any human being is a tight Rector Femoris and Psoas.   I'm stretching these muscles 2 times a day and throughout the day to loosen and lengthen these muscles and it's working.   It will take more time however.   I am also strengthening my glutes which is helping to correct the pelvis alignment as well.  I expect another 4 - 8 weeks I could quite possibly be cured of the anterior pelvis tilt, but we will see.  It is very minimal now and should go away completely soon.

My walk is improving  and continuing to loosen each day.   Right now, I am needing to continue to loosen up the hips and quadriceps muscle so that I can achieve a more full range of motion on steps.   Additionally, I am starting to work harder on strengthening my quadriceps and glutes so that the sit-and-stand task is not as challenging.   I would say the weakest part of my leg at the moment is the area just above my knee so it makes it more challenging to stand up from a chair.  With that said; I'm doing pretty well with the sit and stand exercises during PT; so it could just be a matter of time before this element improves as well.   I walked 1 mile twice last week unassisted so the strength is definitely coming back. I hope to break that record toward the end of next week.   

Lastly, tomorrow is a big day for me as I re-enter my formal Gym for the first time in over 4 months.   I have been working out my upper body with a Bow-Flex machine in my house; and it has been "okay" but definitely isn't that great at building mass. I lost some muscle and I'm not to pleased about that; but was of course expecting that.  Fortunately the Bow Flex did a good job on maintaining and keeping me formidable.  Additionally, I will begin to do some leg work with machines....very light weight and safe.  On some machines I may not even use any weight and just go through ranges of motions.  Safety is key here.  I look forward to adding another element to my recovery come tomorrow.   

We are going to keep it going strong guys. Let me know if you have any questions

All the Best,

IFS

[FutureManuteBol]

Awesome, keep it rolling.

[BeYourBest]

Sounds good so far IFS.

Great updates as per! Thank you.

All the best

[FutureManuteBol]

Everything good, man? I know it’s only been 3 days but you’re pretty consistent with your posts. I guess recovery starts to become redundant on a day by day basis

[InFullStryde]

Everything good, man? I know it’s only been 3 days but you’re pretty consistent with your posts. I guess recovery starts to become redundant on a day by day basis

Hi FutureManute!  Yes, exactly. I actually just finished with some stretching.  They say that stretching more than once a day does not do much for you long term, but stretching 3 times a day helps me stay loose enough to walk around more effectively.  Since the daily grind is mostly the same with stretching, strengthing and walking as the standard, I've reduced my major updates to once a week.  All is good, so far.  Still improving a little bit each day. Thank you for checking in with me!

IFS

[FutureManuteBol]

Oh, ok. Sounds reasonable. I don't mean to be on your case, good luck on your continued strengthening and stretching.

[InFullStryde]

Oh, ok. Sounds reasonable. I don't mean to be on your case, good luck on your continued strengthening and stretching.

Check in any time, buddy.  Good to hear from you. 

[SimonFuller]

Check in any time, buddy.  Good to hear from you.

Keep working hard IFS!

[InFullStryde]

Keep working hard IFS!

Thank  you! CLL is a fight to the finish.  I'll update once more on Sunday.  Hope all is going well!

IFS

[lax2018]

HI,IFS

does the Physical Therapy all covered by insurance or part of it ?

i am planning to move forward to~~~i am having HMO so far . wonder if need to change to ppo

[InFullStryde]

HI,IFS

does the Physical Therapy all covered by insurance or part of it ?

i am planning to move forward to~~~i am having HMO so far . wonder if need to change to ppo

Hi Lax,

Physical Therapy was fully covered. I had a $30 co-pay per visit and have been going to PT 3 days per week for the past 4.5 months. The other 4 week days; I stretched and exercised on my own per the plan that my PT Clinic provided me. I plan on continuing my  PT for another few months as well.   I believe that HMO also covers PT but you would be limited to the HMO Network PT provider.  My PPO allowed me a bit more flexibility to choose my PT Clinic.  Honestly, your HMO likely has a good PT Clinic.  Make sure they communicate directly with your doctor per your request and emphasize the need for strong stretching of hamstrings, hips, and quads...and strengthening of glutes and lower abs.  This is key.  Good luck and feel free to let me know if you have any more questions.

All the Best

IFS

[lax2018]

Thanks a lot  IFS

They come to your home and do the Physical Therapy always , right ?  Does the insurance limit to 3 times per week?   i have a feeling that changing to ppo will be a good decision.

By the way, do you have any suggetion for the PRE-Surgery that i can do ,  i hope i could book a date in 1-2 month.

[InFullStryde]

Thanks a lot  IFS

They come to your home and do the Physical Therapy always , right ?  Does the insurance limit to 3 times per week?   i have a feeling that changing to ppo will be a good decision.

By the way, do you have any suggetion for the PRE-Surgery that i can do ,  i hope i could book a date in 1-2 month.

Actually, the PT is a clinic that you will travel to most of the time.  I believe there are a few that will come to your home; but I'm not sure which one's those are.   I believe that most PT clinics will provide pre-surgery but you need to get a prescription for that as well for it to be covered by insurance.

[lax2018]

A lot thanks!!!

[InFullStryde]

A lot thanks!!!

My pleasure, man and best of luck to you.  By the way; which doctor are you going with?

[21FRANCO]

Sooo are you starting to see ur new height !! Also after you had the surgery is the pain brutal or not that much .. ps keep up the great work my guy 👌

[InFullStryde]

Sooo are you starting to see ur new height !! Also after you had the surgery is the pain brutal or not that much .. ps keep up the great work my guy 👌

Hi Franco.  Yes, I sure am.  3 inches makes a very big difference in my life. I'm thankful I was able to achieve this amount of new height.  I still have more recovery to go before I'm feeling the way I want to; but I am getting a little better each and every day.

After the surgery, the pain isn't that much because they are giving you pain medication like morphine throughout the day.   You're quite comfortable and I was even able to fall asleep easily the first night I was in the hospital.  During the 2nd day; they begin to ween you off of the morphine and give you a pill form of medication like Tramadol or Norco.  The Pill drugs continue to help you with your pain.  The first few days, my pain never exceeded a 2 - 3  while resting my legs. The high level of pain comes when you apply pressure or move your legs in the "wrong" way because you're now dealing with surgical wounds that need time to settle down and heal.  I always recommend to be careful and try not to aggravate the surgically wounded legs for at least a week.  Mobilize as soon as you can but be safe and don't over do it.   The pain wasn't really that bad for me to be completely honest.   After the first couple of weeks the surgical pains really begin to subside and now you are mainly dealing with some lingering "dull" pains which can be best described as a constant and non sharp discomfort that comes and goes.  The pain medication again helps you push through this discomfort.  As you enter into and push beyond the 1 month point; you begin to experience little to no pain while your legs are at rest.  Most pain is from the soft tissue of the leg which is now stretched an inch or so.   With stretching, massage from physical therapist, warm baths/showers, and pain medication everything is tolerable.   Every so often; you will deal with soreness here or a "ouch" there; but again in time this all mainly subsides.  There was no point over my past 135 days post-op; that I experienced a pain that was not tolerable. 

I hope this helps!

IFS

[catcat]

It turns that you had a great recovery. Just a few quick questions, how do those scars look like after so many days? are they fading well? would you go and do laser to reduce them?   could you possibly update some pictures?  Thanks.

[MirinHeight]

It turns that you had a great recovery. Just a few quick questions, how do those scars look like after so many days? are they fading well? would you go and do laser to reduce them?   could you possibly update some pictures?  Thanks.

would love to see as well!

[Pilor]

Hi InFullStryde,

Are you still on pain medications (or oder medications)?
If not, when did you stop?

Thanks and have a great recovery

[InFullStryde]

It turns that you had a great recovery. Just a few quick questions, how do those scars look like after so many days? are they fading well? would you go and do laser to reduce them?   could you possibly update some pictures?  Thanks.

Hi Cat Cat,

Great question.  My scars are very thin and do not bother me at all. The marks that are made on the body from CLL is really a matter of personal preference in terms of what you want to do with them afterward.  For me, they will forever be a reminder of my courage to go forward with the procedure. They are my battle scars and sort of an unofficial tattoo reminding me of the great lengths I would go out of the love I have for myself.

I'll try to take some pictures around month 6 post surgery so you can see what they look like around the time where recovery becomes more imminent.  The thing is that even if these scars fade; I believe the surgeon will go right back into these same lines when they remove the Styrde nails; so it doesn't really matter what they look like now. They will be opened up again next year.    Either way, it's a great question and I'll be happy to take a picture and post for community review!

Hi InFullStryde,

Are you still on pain medications (or oder medications)?
If not, when did you stop?

Thanks and have a great recovery

Hi Pilor!

I do not take medication for pain anymore. I stopped taking the medication at about month 2. I would take some pain medication, sparingly and every so often after month 2; but very rarely.  I still have an almost 100% bottle full of tramadol from my most recent refill.  Even though the lengthening becomes uncomfortable, I didn't really experience pain from it.  What I felt was more of the anxiety of not being able to move my legs as smoothly.   Of course, once I stopped lengthening, the discomfort and tightness lessen quite a bit.  I want to emphasize that the tightness does NOT go away 100%. You are left with tightness in both hamstrings and quadriceps.  You must continue PT another 2 - 3 months at least in order to remedy the lengthening effects done unto your soft tissues.


I hope this helps, guys. Thank you again for your support and for following my diary. Please let me know if you have any other specific questions.

All the Best!

IFS

[tiggy]

Hey IFS,

im glad all is going well with you. I am currently at home recovering. I was asked before surgery to start a diary by some people here and I'd like to sort of start one as a way to give back for all I've learnt here over the years. Can you tell me how to do that?

[tiggy]

is that the "new thread" link on the right side of the screen?

[InFullStryde]

is that the "new thread" link on the right side of the screen?

Hi Tiggy! , Click on "New Topic" once you are entered into the diary section.  Good luck!

[tiggy]

Thanks brother

[InFullStryde]

(Sunday) Day 135 Post Op - Day 43 Consolidation/Recovery Phase - DISTRACTION COMPLETED....[7.5 cm Achieved / 3 inches Taller!]

Greetings CLL'ers

I hope all is well. I just wanted to check in and provide my weekly update as of Sunday.  I am pretty much exactly at the 4 and 1/2 months point in my journey and the Good news is that I continue to improve. My legs are getting stronger each day and my flexibility continues to increase. I'm going to say my flexibility is at about 85% of what is was before surgery.   I am also feeling stronger getting out of chairs now and I am requiring less time of warm up to start walking after sitting or laying down for an extended period of time.    My primary challenge at this moment is the tightness of my quad muscles which has resulted in minor APT and general discomfort when walking.  All is improving however with stretching and strengthening.   I am still attending PT 3 times a week at the clinic and performing my own self PT 7 days a week so I'm feeling pretty good.   Not too much else to share at this time other then I'm working hard to get back to normal.  I am able to do pretty much anything I need to do out of necessity now and even have returned to the gym.  I'm back to my job, preparing my own meals, preparing myself for outings; can pick things up off the floor, no issues getting into showers or getting on to the ground and require no assistance for anything in particular.  I'm enjoying having control back and cannot wait to finalize the first phase of recovery.  I will be posting a 2nd video at my 5 month post surgery of my gait/walking progress for the CLL community to see.    I am on the brink of feeling euphoric in regards to my CLL results.  Just a bit of ways to go before I celebrate.  To be clear; there is still a good amount of work to be done; but I can genuinely feel myself getting better each and every day and I'm feeling very positive about the next several weeks of recovery.

If you have any questions please feel free to let me know. 

All the Best,

IFS

[jaybam]

(Sunday) Day 135 Post Op - Day 43 Consolidation/Recovery Phase - DISTRACTION COMPLETED....[7.5 cm Achieved / 3 inches Taller!]

Greetings CLL'ers

I hope all is well. I just wanted to check in and provide my weekly update as of Sunday.  I am pretty much exactly at the 4 and 1/2 months point in my journey and the Good news is that I continue to improve. My legs are getting stronger each day and my flexibility continues to increase. I'm going to say my flexibility is at about 85% of what is was before surgery.   I am also feeling stronger getting out of chairs now and I am requiring less time of warm up to start walking after sitting or laying down for an extended period of time.    My primary challenge at this moment is the tightness of my quad muscles which has resulted in minor APT and general discomfort when walking.  All is improving however with stretching and strengthening.   I am still attending PT 3 times a week at the clinic and performing my own self PT 7 days a week so I'm feeling pretty good.   Not too much else to share at this time other then I'm working hard to get back to normal.  I am able to do pretty much anything I need to do out of necessity now and even have returned to the gym.  I'm back to my job, preparing my own meals, preparing myself for outings; can pick things up off the floor, no issues getting into showers or getting on to the ground and require no assistance for anything in particular.  I'm enjoying having control back and cannot wait to finalize the first phase of recovery.  I will be posting a 2nd video at my 5 month post surgery of my gait/walking progress for the CLL community to see.    I am on the brink of feeling euphoric in regards to my CLL results.  Just a bit of ways to go before I celebrate.  To be clear; there is still a good amount of work to be done; but I can genuinely feel myself getting better each and every day and I'm feeling very positive about the next several weeks of recovery.

If you have any questions please feel free to let me know. 

All the Best,

IFS

Hey IFS,

How is your walk? Can people tell something is wrong?

[InFullStryde]

Hey IFS,

How is your walk? Can people tell something is wrong?

Hi Jaybam, it's getting there; but I'd say about 80%.  At the 4.5 months point, I have a bit of stiffness in the quads that restrict my stride a bit.  People generally would only notice if they were focused in on me since my walk is a bit slower at this time.  Honestly, though, the walk is looking pretty decent. I'm always harder on myself than I should be, lol.   I'll be posting a 5-month post-op progress video of me walking in about 2 weeks.  I must say, I remember back in January when I had the surgery; wondering what May, June would look like for me. I can't believe that these months are here. I feel just about where I expected to be in May. Best described as .. close, but not quite done yet". 

Thanks for the question and let me know if you have any more for me.